History Recap / TheBradyBunchS2E21TheWinner

But there was a time when the youngest Brady boy was rarely succeessful. Always the groomsman, never the groom, at jacks, jump rope, checkers ... ice cream eating contests on kiddie shows. That last one was the latest in his long line of failures and second-place finishes, and ensuring a clean trophy shelf in "'''The Winner'''."

When Cindy comes home with the first-place trophy for winning a park board jacks tournament, Bobby realizes what this means – "I'm the only Brady sibling without a trophy." After moping around the house and trying too hard to win one – as a result, those efforts end badly – Bobby seems to have finally found his niche selling magazine subscriptions for a school fundraiser. Bobby is doing exceptionally well, but Mike and Carol decide to help him out and not tell him about it. He is announced as the winner of the contest, and Bobby's spirits have perked up considerably ... until Cindy runs into the room and, upon Bobby boasting that he's the best magazine salesman at his school, Cindy says, "No you're not. ..." before realizing she said too much. Bobby figures out what this means – he didn't win anything at all on his own. He angrily tells his parents he's canceling all his magazine orders and vows to win something on his own.

A day later, his favorite afternoon TV kiddie show, "Cartoon King," is on the air, with a huge ice cream eating contest and a golden scoop for the winner. Bobby immediately enters, since he ''loves ice cream''. On the day of the contest, Bobby is doing very well, despite the crazy rules of having to eat with your mouth and getting lots of whipped cream to boot ... but then someone finishes ahead of him. "I lost ... again!" Bobby sadly sighs, as the winner ([[BigEater a heavy-set boy about Bobby's age]]) celebrates with the Cartoon King.

Bobby and his parents come home, the young tyke convinced he's a loser that nobody cares about. Until he walks into the living room and sees a trophy ... well, formerly Greg's trophy, that his siblings edited for him, all for trying his best and being the best "Bobby Brady" out there. Bobby is truly touched and humbled. Out of all the later honors Bobby would win – college conference championships on the diamond and trophies on the race track, and even the civic awards during his professional career, the first trophy Bobby ever won always was the most special to him.

* RageQuit: Twice in this episode:
** In one scene, he is playing Peter and Cindy at checkers and his siblings are winning. Mike and Carol take Bobby aside afterward and tell them such an attitude is unacceptable and that winners never RageQuit.

* NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: Bobby wins a magazine-selling subscription contest and is finally proud that he did so by his own sweat and efforts. Or so he thinks, as Mike and Carol have helped their neighbor. Bobby wasn't supposed to know ... that is, until Cindy lets slip the truth. Bobby tearfully resolves to win something on his own or he won't win at all.

* [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=97tsiigu5xu3sefmqh5bby0s Everyone Gets A Trophy]]: In an era before participation trophies were given out merely for showing up, the trophy that Bobby is given by his siblings -- for being "the best Bobby Brady" -- is probably the closest thing to a "participation trophy" that existed in early 1971 (when this episode was filmed).

* [[Everyone Gets A Trophy http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=97tsiigu5xu3sefmqh5bby0s]]: In an era before participation trophies were given out merely for showing up, the trophy that Bobby is given by his siblings -- for being "the best Bobby Brady" -- is probably the closest thing to a "participation trophy" that existed in early 1971 (when this episode was filmed).

* [Everyone Gets A Trophy http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=97tsiigu5xu3sefmqh5bby0s]: In an era before participation trophies were given out merely for showing up, the trophy that Bobby is given by his siblings -- for being "the best Bobby Brady" -- is probably the closest thing to a "participation trophy" that existed in early 1971 (when this episode was filmed).

By the time 1990 rolled around, Bobby was quite a success in life. He had just started his own business and asked Peter to come on board as equal partners, and the business was moving in a solid direction north. But even earlier, there were seeds sown for his success – first as a key member of his college baseball team (in ''The Brady Girls Get Married'') and later as a race car driver, with several wins under his belt. Even late in the run of the original ''[[TheBradyBunch Brady Bunch]]'', Bobby was a budding pool shark, soundly beating Mike's co-workers at a get-together.

Bobby and his parents come home, the young tyke convinced he's a loser that nobody cares about. Until he walks into the living room and sees a trophy ... one purchased by his siblings. All for trying his best and being the best "Bobby Brady" out there. Bobby is truly touched and humbled. Out of all the later honors Bobby would win – college conference championships on the diamond and trophies on the race track, and even the civic awards during his professional career, the first trophy Bobby ever won always was the most special to him.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Why Bobby doesn't have a trophy. What he thinks of himself when he sees that every other Brady sibling -- and most likely, his parents and Alice as well -- has a trophy.

* DirectedByCastMember: This was the first of a handful of episodes Robert Reed directed.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Hal Smith, famous for being Otis Campbell the town drunk on ''TheAndyGriffithShow'', stars as the Cartoon King.

A day later, his favorite afternoon TV kiddie show, "Cartoon King," is on the air, with a huge ice cream eating contest and a golden scoop for the winner. Bobby immediately enters, since he ''loves ice cream''. On the day of the contest, Bobby is doing very well, despite the crazy rules of having to eat with your mouth and getting lots of whipped cream to boot ... but then someone finishes ahead of him. "I lost ... again!" Bobby sadly sighs, as the winner (a heavy-set boy about Bobby's age) celebrates with the Cartoon King.

A day later, his favorite afternoon TV kiddie show, "Cartoon King," is on the air, with a huge ice cream eating contest and a golden scoop for the winner. Bobby immediately enters, since he ''loves ice cream''. On the day of the contest, Bobby is doing very well ... but then someone finishes ahead of him.

When Cindy comes home with the first-place trophy for winning a park board jacks tournament, Bobby realizes what this means – "I'm the only sibling without a trophy." After moping around the house and trying too hard to win one – as a result, those efforts end badly – Bobby seems to have finally found his niche selling magazine subscriptions for a school fundraiser. Bobby is doing exceptionally well, but Mike and Carol decide to help him out and not tell him about it. He is announced as the winner of the contest, and Bobby's spirits have perked up considerably ... until Cindy runs into the room and, upon Bobby boasting that he's the best magazine salesman at his school, Cindy says, "No you're not. ..." before realizing she said too much. Bobby figures out what this means – he didn't win anything at all on his own. He angrily tells his parents he's canceling all his magazine orders and vows to win something on his own.